The Alberta Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program provides a tax credit to Alberta corporations for eligible expenditures incurred after December 31, 2008. The credit is worth 10% of a company’s eligible SR&ED expenditures in Alberta up to a $4 million expenditure limit, for a maximum credit of $400,000, and it is refundable for all companies.

The Alberta government reviewed the SR&ED program in 2011, and based on feedback from all stakeholders, it was determined that the program is working as intended. Currently, the federal SR&ED investment tax credit associated with expenditures in Alberta reduces the eligible expenditure base used to calculate the Alberta credit in the following year.  In the 2012 budget, in order to increase the effectiveness of the SR&ED program, it has been proposed that this “grind” will be eliminated, effective for tax years ending after March 31, 2012.